D2 @ Central Valley

Top 5 Teams
1. Palmer (6)
2. #4 Howells-Dodge (5)
3. #10 Southwest (5)
4. Centennial (5)
5. East Butler (6)

Other Teams Competing
Alma (3)
Anselmo-Merna (4)
Cedar Bluffs (1)
Central Valley (2)
Dorchester (1)
Freeman (1)
Friend (1)
Guardian Angels Central Catholic (2)
North Central (3)
Overton (1)
Palmyra (4)
Sandhills Valley (1)
Stanton (1)
Winside (4)

Preview
Look for a really good team race in the top five, as all five teams are projected to have 5 or 6 wrestlers qualify for the state tournament. Palmer comes in as the favorite with 6 wrestlers qualifying, but Howells-Dodge, Southwest, Centennial, and East butler will be right in it until the end. Even outside the top-5 we could have some teams right in the mix. Winside and AnselmoMerna each have four wrestlers projected to qualify.

The D2 district looks to be pretty good at quite a few individual weight classes. There are 31 ranked wrestlers set to compete at Central Valley. 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 170 and 285 all have at least three ranked wrestlers.

Class D Rankings

Please send any suggestions, updates or corrections to dru.kastler@gmail.com, KastlerDA on Twitter, or simply comment on this post. We will update these predictions the week of districts to include the next few weeks of competition. 

106
#7 Bohac looks like the favorite at this weight as he has a head to head win over Duba. Kocian, the back up to Bohac has been solid this season and looks like he could finish runner-up. Duba has a head to head win over Brandyberry and a common opponent win over Druery. Brandyberry has a common opponent win over Druery.

Projection:
1. #7 Lane Bohac, East Butler
2. Reece Kocian, East Butler
3. Jesse Duba, Friend
4. Carter Brandyberry, Alma

Contenders:
Zane Druery, Anselmo-Merna

113
#3 Ellis and #4 Mann look to be the second set of teammates to go 1-2 in this district in the first two weights. Both are returning state qualifiers and should lead the way at this weight. Brecka and Klemesrud look like the favorites to close out the weight based on record. Reed should be right in the mix as well.

Update: Mann is going to be unable to compete at districts because of an injury. Klemesrud moves up to the third spot and Reed moves into the fourth spot.

Projection:
1. #3 Cayden Ellis, Winside
2. #8 Brayden Brecka, East Butler
3. Ben Klemesrud, North Central
4. Jonah Reed, Freeman

Contenders:
Tyler Ellis, Southwest

120
#1 Wells has continued to roll since making the mid-season drop to 120. #5 Klemesrud has a quality win over #6 Phillips of Burwell. #7 Polvicka could push Klemesrud to make the finals as he has had a really solid year. Kosek has the next best record at this weight.

Projection:
1. #1 Cyrus Wells, Anselmo Merna
2. #5 Thomas Klemsurd, North Central
3. Michael Polvicka, East Butler
4. Keenan Kosek, Centennial

126
#1 Wood suffered his first loss of the season and will look to bounce back and win the district title. Wood has a head to head win over #4 Spatz. #2 Schernikau and Spatz just met this past weekend in the finals at the David City invite. The match was cut short when Spatz was injured with Schernikau leading at the time. Wells has had a solid freshman campaign and made a mid-season cut to 126. Fredrick, Ellis, and Gehring will look to battle Wells for the final spot or could end up battling each other for the final spot if Spatz in unable to go at districts.

Update: Wood seems to be in a little bit of a funk as of late so we flipped humans Schernikau in the rankings and will do it here too.

Projection:
1. #1 Gaven Schernikau, Centennial
2. #3 Shaye Wood, Central Valley
3.  Josh Spatz, East Butler
4. Connor Wells, Anselmo Merna

Matthew Fredrick, Winside
Michael Gehring, Palmyra

132
This weight should be one of the better ones at this district with 4 wrestlers that are currently ranked in the top 8. 2X State Medalist Reimers is the favorite to win the district. Reimers has a common opponent win over #7 Latimer. #3 Payne and #5 Escalante should be a great semifinal match. Don’t count out contenders Kiger and Jedlicka from stealing a qualifying spot.

Projection:
1. #2 Ruger Reimers, Palmer
2. #3 Ryan Payne, Centennial
3. #5 Art Escalante, Winside
4. #7 Garrett Latimer, Southwest

Cinch Kiger, Overton
Madox Magwire, Winside

138
#1 Martinez has a common opponent win over #4 Escalante and #8 Jensen. #4 Escalante has had a really solid year and should be able to meet Martinez in the finals. #8 Jensen has also had a pretty good year but has struggled a bit as of late. Reyes will need to hold Kerns and Nelson off for the final spot. Judd Alberts of Freeman could also become a contender here as well. Alberts started the year at 138, but has wrestled up at 145 as of late.

Projection:
1. #1 Enrique Martinez, Central Valley
2. #4 Gabe Escalante, Winside
3. Garrett Jensen, Palmer
4. Dominick Reyes, Centennial

Trevor Jedlicka, Howells-Dodge
Jacob Kerns, Southwest
Ty Nelson, North Central

145
#1 Van Pelt is the favorite to win the district as he has a head to head win over #2 Lewis. #2 Lewis has a head to head win over #8 Guzman. #8 Guzman and Dowding will battle for the final spot.

Update: Dowding has entered the district at 152 which bumps Alberts into the fourth spot.

Projection:
1. #3 Matthew Van Pelt, Southwest
2. #4 Levi Lewis, North Central
3. #8 Roy Guzman, Palmer
4. Judd Alberts, Freeman

Tyler Carlson, Winside
Judd Alberts, Freeman

152
This weight doesn’t seem like there is a big favorite like some of the others. #8 Tryon has a head to head win over Molzahn last week. Molzahn has missed most of the season with an injury, but has wrestled well since making his return. Brecka has a head to head win over Gay. Crawford could make some noise here and steal a spot.

Update: Dickinson dropped from 160 and slides into the third spot, which slides Brick down to fourth. Like mentioned before Dowding bumped up and will be a contender for that final spot.

Projection:
1. #6 Brett Tryon, Southwest
2. #7 Ayden Molzahn, Alma
3. Brody Dickinson, Freeman
4. Trevin Brecka, East Butler

Dedrick Dowding, Palmyra
Damon Crawford, GACC
Mylan Andrews, North Central

160
After #4 Belina this weight doesn’t appear to be very deep. Wichmann has been solid for most of the year but has stumbled a bit here late. If Wichmann can get back on track, he should have no trouble qualifying. Dickinson has a common opponent win over Pope. The wild card at this weight is Bayer. Bayer hasn’t wrestled since the opening weekend, but if healthy he will be right in the mix to qualify.

Update: With Dickinson dropping to 152 that bumps smith up to the fourth spot, and Pope into the third spot. Bayer finally came back last weekend after missing most of the year with and injury but wrestled 195 and has entered districts there as well. Don’t be surprised if a couple 152 contenders bump up as after Belina and Wichmann this weight is really wide open.

Projection:
1. #4 Levi Belina, Howells Dodge
2. #8 Chet Wichmann, Palmer
3. Jarin Pope, Palmyra
4. Paxton Smith, North Central

170
#3 Borgmann has a couple head to head wins over Hegemann and is the favorite to win the district. #5 Hegemann and #8 Reimers haven’t met this year but do have a couple common opponents that they have very similar scores against. Jung and Smith will battle it out for the final spot.

Update: Jung didn’t enter into districts which should open the door for Smith to qualify.

Projection:
1. #3 Issiah Borgmann, Stanton
2. #5 Wyatt Hegemann, Howells-Dodge
3. #6 Gunner Reimers, Palmer
4. Christian Smith, Overton

182
#2 Russell’s only two losses are to #1 Dawe. #7 Schumacher has a couple head to head wins over Meier. Wolfe has the next best record but has competed some at 195 this season. The big question here is does a wrestler or two bump up to 195 to try and secure a qualifying spot.

Update: Kuta is back and wrestling well, he should be a safe bet to qualify. With Kuta being back it makes this weight deeper as it slides Schumacher and Meier down a spot.

Projection:
1. #2 Daylan Russell, Alma
2. Justin Kuta, Palmer
3. #7 Trevor Schumacher, Howells-Dodge
4. Cash Meier, GACC

Contenders:
Sutton Pohlman, Stanton

195
This weight seems really wide open. Don’t be surprised to see a couple 182 contenders dump up to wrestle 195. Downey is the favorite as he currently holds a 3-1 record against Miller in head to head meetings. Miller has beat Real head to head. Bryan-Aldrich hasn’t competed much this year but has the next best record.

Update: This weight just got a whole lot better. Bayer is back from injury and up at 195 he slides into the second spot. Wolfe also bumped up from 182 and slides into the third spot. Really anyone of these guys is capable of winning this weight and possibly setting themselves up for a good shot at a state medal.

Projection:
1. #7 Cole Downey, Southwest
2. Jestin Bayer, Howells-Dodge
3. Tyler Wolfe, Sandhills Valley
3. Sid Miller, Anselmo Merna

220
#1 Throener is a pretty big favorite at this weight. Burnett has the next best record. Peatrowski and Kiefer have the next best records after that. Keep an eye on Clayton Hardy as made a mid-season drop to 220 and could steal a qualifying spot here.

Projection:
1. #1 Carter Throener, Howells-Dodge
2. Andrew Burnett, Anselmo-Merna
3. Mitchell Peatrowski, GACC
4. Tanner Kiefer, Cedar Bluffs

Clayton Hardy, Southwest

285
This should have some pretty good semi-finals and medals matches. Unless a big upset happens these 4 should be the qualifiers. #1 Martin is a pretty big favorite as he has a head to head win over #4 Shoemaker. After Martin these guys could finish in any order it probably depends how seeding ends up for 2-4. Right now, Fehlhafer has the next best record.

Projection:
1. #1 Kien Martin, Centennial
2. #4 Bryson Shoemaker, Southwest
3. #5 Kyle Pickhinkle, Howells-Dodge
4. #8 Carson Fehlhafer, Centennial